Shohei Ohtani’s pitching is back, as is his hitting in the leadoff spot of games he starts.

Shohei Ohtani is a special hitter, but what makes him such a unicorn is his ability to hit and pitch at an elite level.

He’s done things nobody in the game has done before as a two-way phenom.

Ohtani has even taken his absurdity to another level by hitting and pitching in the same game in the games he starts.

He did so on Monday in his first game as a pitcher with the Los Angeles Dodgers after not taking the mound for over a full season.

He showed some expected rust on the mound, but also showed a rare weakness at the plate that the Los Angeles Angels know all too well.

When leading off in games he starts, Ohtani’s numbers are far from stellar.

The sample size is small, but a .179/.289/.385 slash line as a leadoff hitter in games he starts is closer to the kind of slash line you’d see from a pitcher hitting from back in the day, not a unicorn like Ohtani.

He wound up striking out against Dylan Cease in his first at-bat on Monday.

Not sure how much of this matters now, but Shohei Ohtani’s numbers as a leadoff hitter when pitching weren’t great.

It’s only 45 plate appearances, spread between 2021 and 2023, but he slashed .179/.289/.385. The numbers were much better at the 2/3 spots.

(h/t @MattBirch12)

— Alden González (@Alden_Gonzalez) June 17, 2025

Ohtani will have more at-bats on Monday, but since he only went an inning on the mound, it feels as if the first at-bat is the notable one when highlighting what he can do at the plate while he pitches.

This rare flaw in Ohtani’s game might make manager Dave Roberts make a change with Los Angeles’ lineup when he pitches.

Dave Roberts should continue adjusting Dodgers lineup when Shohei Ohtani pitches

A 46-plate appearance sample size isn’t massive, but feels large enough to catch onto a trend.

That, and common sense suggest it might be a better idea to hit Ohtani second or third in the order when he starts. It’s almost never a great idea to give your best hitter fewer at-bats, but in this scenario, it might be for the best.

Ohtani is essentially going all-out on the mound for an inning, and then after a brief two-minute break, attempt to hit elite starting pitching.

If anyone can do it, it’s him, but even he is proving he’s somewhat human by having underwhelming numbers out of the leadoff spot when he starts.

Ohtani threw 28 pitches in the first inning on Monday, most of which were incredibly stressful, after not pitching in a game for over a year, and then attempted to swing the bat against Dylan Cease, a bonafide ace.

Ohtani didn’t even have time to go back into the dugout and had someone hand him his equiptment to bat with after he finished his inning on the mound.

There’s no shame in saying Ohtani struggles doing something nobody else would even attempt to do. Giving him just a couple of extra minutes to catch his breath after pitching before attempting to hit might do wonders for him.

Roberts will presumably stick with what he knows for now, and it’s hard to blame him. Ohtani has been nothing but ridiculous in the leadoff spot with the Dodgers.

If he continues to struggle at the top of the order when he pitches, though, moving Ohtani down a spot or two might help bring out the best in him.

That, at the end of the day, is what’s best for the Dodgers and for Major League Baseball.